Estefan Hailed in Her Comeback

Gloria Estefan made an emotional return to the stage at the 18th annual American Music Awards, nearly a year after she suffered a debilitating back injury in a bus crash.

The 33-year-old performer, donning a sleek backless blue dress, received a standing ovation from the Shrine Auditorium crowd Monday before she sang “Coming Out of the Dark,” a ballad inspired by her recovery.

Estefan was injured when her tour bus was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer last March on a Pennsylvania highway.

The Cuban-born singer underwent an operation to insert metal braces to stabilize two broken vertebrae. She also spent several months in physical therapy.